Black Sheep
by Castalle
Summary: Jonas' car doesn't explode on impact. Surviving but with a tarnished reputation, the only friendly face quickly becomes that of his rival's. This might eventually become slash.


Bill stared, mouth agape as the truck plummeted earthward, a sinking pit growing in his stomach as he was reminded in the worst possible way of just how powerless any of them were in the face of nature. He winced, expecting the worst, and was nearly rewarded with it. The truck slammed into the ground, disappearing beneath the tall corn.

"God..." Jo whispered, flinching upon the impact.

Bill stared at the receiver in his hand, hurling it into the dashboard, cursing loudly. Part of him wanted, then and there, to call the entire thing off. Jonas' team no doubt was in the vicinity, and he could only hope they hadn't seen the recent carnage firsthand.

"We tried." Jo said quietly, staring at the dashboard, doing her best to keep her eyes from wandering back to the distant impact site. "There's nothing we could do."

* * *

Helping Jo up, Bill glanced over the massive damage path that the twister had left in its wake, the mile wide trail that spread out across the plains digging deep into the ground. The remnants of the corn field that had been torn apart were nearly two miles from their location now, and seeing the tall stalks sent a sudden reminder to him, jolting him into action.

"Beltzer – car!" he shouted, glancing back at Jo quickly, "It's Jonas, I can't just leave them out there-"

Her confusion quickly turned to sympathy, the woman shaking her head, "Bill, I don't think either of them could've survived that crash."

"I know, Jo, but..." he glanced again at the distant field, "We can't just leave it there. Shit, I wish Melissa was here with her phone – hey, Rabbit," the navigator turned at the sound of his name, walking towards Bill, "Get your way to the nearest place with a working phone, get emergency crews out here."

It didn't take any time for Rabbit to turn and call for Sanders, running to his truck and climbing in.

Beltzer honked twice, grabbing Bill and Jo' attention as he motioned for them to hurry up. Bill began jogging towards the van, noticing Jo beside him.

"You don't have to come along." he said, climbing into the back of the van, turning sideways in the cramped space, "I don't know how bad it's going to be."

"Well – you said it first Bill, we can't just not do anything." Jo responded, squeezing into the back of the van, pressing her back against Bill's chest to fit in and slide the door shut. Both of them were nearly thrown back as Beltzer took off without any warning, turning out of the ruined field and heading to the nearest road.

The ride was silent for the most part, none of them finding anything to say as they got closer and closer to the crash site. Bill attempted to put his mind on the new data and models they could start developing, but the images of mangled cars and bodies forced him to gather up his courage for the grisly sight that was no doubt awaiting them.

The telltale sound of corn stalks slapping against the sides of the van drew his attention momentarily, then created a deep knot in the pit of his stomach, the sounds indicating they were nearly there. He heard Beltzer mutter something under his breath, and glanced up, seeing the mangled, twisted wreckage sitting in the corn field.

"Oh – jesus.." Bill mumbled, staring at the heap of metal that had once been a vehicle. The long cell tower was still sticking out of what must have been the front window at one point. The tower piece extended back through the wreckage, giving Bill a vague indication of which part of the catastrophe he was staring at was the front.

"You see any signs of his team?" Beltzer asked, climbing out of the van. Bill and Jo were close behind, getting out and walking towards the wreckage.

"Not yet. You think they're going to come by or try to call somebody?" Bill asked, moving towards the wreck, slowly walking around it, finding the front cab that had almost been bent in half.

"Who knows." Beltzer mumbled, squinting as he followed Bill. He squatted down at the shattered window, most of which was on the ground. Leaning forward to get a better look inside the cab, he jerked his head back quickly, standing.

"Might want to hold off on that, Bill."

Bill could tell just by Beltzer's tone that whatever waited for him wasn't going to be easy. Of course, he hadn't expected it to be in the first place – but he knew Beltzer had been through some bad storms and seen more than his fair share of ugly scenes.

Glancing at Jo, who shook her head lightly, Bill considered her advice. It was against his better judgment that he knelt down to the front of the car, placing a hand on the protruding tower piece and leaning into the cab.

Regret came quickly, Bill bringing a hand over his mouth and nose as he felt his stomach lurch and turn over at the sight. Whatever was left of Eddie's stomach, chest, and everything else above the belt was going to have to be scraped out of the cab interior. The stench alone made Bill cringe and turn away, coughing several times before regaining his nerve and squatting down further to look deeper into the cab.

A hanging arm caught his attention, and he hoped and prayed in the brief seconds he stared at Jonas' watch, that it was still attached to a body. Luckily it was, and the crumpled form of the doctor could be seen, shoved up against the ceiling of the twisted cab, his body thrown so violently upwards that it had been wedged between the bottom of the driver's seat and floorboard. Bill could tell that one or both legs were broken, twisted unnaturally in the small space they'd been forced into by brute force alone.

Jonas' head was likewise hanging down, hidden by his upper arm until Bill had shifted slightly. Reaching towards Jonas' neck, he carefully searched for a pulse. Eyes widening after a few seconds, he turned his head, shouting to the other two.

"He's alive! One of you go out by the road to flag down the ambulance!"

Beltzer turned, rushing back to his van, speeding off back the way he'd came.

Jo covered her mouth with a hand, dropping down on her knees to crawl down beside Bill. Keeping her eyes firmly averted from the splattered remnants of the driver, she crept in, reaching out and taking Jonas' hand in her own.

"Jonas," she said loudly, "It's Jo, hey – are you there? You need to try and open your eyes alright? Jonas?"

The man's lips twitched and Jo quickly motioned for Bill to join her, the two braving the horrific carnage that coated the inside of the truck. Bill reached for Jonas' wrist, grasping it firmly, glancing at Jo before speaking as well.

"Jonas, it's Bill, just hang in there alright? Help's on the way, you just keep breathing, help's coming and it's gonna get you out of there. We're right here with you."

The two stayed hunched beneath the bent cab for what seemed like almost an hour until they heard echoing sirens. Jo crept out of the truck, turning and rushing down the cornfield, waving her arms towards the approaching ambulance.

Bill finally released Jonas' wrist, crawling out of the cab and moving away, letting the paramedics take his place as they observed the damage, speaking among each other quietly.

Jo moved back to Bill's side, crossing her arms as they watched. One of the Paramedics stood up and walked over to them, while the other crawled further into the wrecked vehicle.

"Well we'll need the fire department to cut him out of there. Ya'll should head on out, we've got it from here – sorry you had to come upon that." She said, taking out a pair of latex gloves and pulling them on.

"What hospital will he be taken to? We're uh," Bill scratched the back of his neck, sighing, "We actually used to work together, way back when. I'd like to visit him."

"We're gonna have a medevac take him to Tulsa, to the Hillcrest medical center. Probably gonna be another hour till the chopper gets here though, the weather being what it is still."

"Alright, thanks."

Bill gave the wreck one last quick look before taking Jo's hand in his own, beginning to walk away from the scene.

"It's about an hour from Muskogee to Tulsa, once I'm all moved back, I want to check up on him."

Jo brushed some hair out of her face, looking up at Bill. "You're not feeling responsible about this, are you? If anyone's guilty for what happened, it was Jonas. He wouldn't listen, Bill. Talking to that man is like talking to a brick."

"I know, but this is still just...god it's just awful. Poor Eddie, he didn't even have a chance."

"They both knew what they were getting into. They've been doing this almost as long as we have. Everybody knows the risks when they get in the car."

"Are you really not that upset by all this?" Bill asked, frowning as he looked down at Jo, "It sounds like you're trying to convince me not to be upset."

"No, Bill, I just know how you are, I know you're going to find some way to feel responsible after the fact. But of all the things you can try and blame yourself for, this isn't one of them."

Bill nodded halfheartedly, the two reaching the edge of the cornfield where Beltzer's van was waiting for them.

"Did Melissa get home?" Jo asked, climbing into the back of the van.

"I don't know, I'll call tomorrow. More than likely she had to take a bus, lord knows how many of those are running with weather like this."

"Well, Bill, if there's something you want to feel guilty about I'd have to say it'd be dragging that woman along."

Bill opted not to respond, but he knew Jo was right on the subject. The two huddled against each other as Beltzer drove them away from the corn field, the rest of their team's vehicles waiting for the van to pass, following along behind it once it had sped by.

* * *

"Yeah...yeah, sure." Bill said quietly, the phone wedged between his ear and shoulder as he scribbled quickly into a notebook, "I'll be up in a few days to get my stuff, I just have to get insurance quotes...all that stuff, from the truck and whatnot. Thanks for all of this."

Hanging up, Bill looked over to Jo, who was seated on the other end of the motel bed.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" he asked, placing the phone down. Jo shook her head, looking down at the laptop that was balancing over her thighs.

"Bill, I'm not mad. Where's this sudden guilt stemming from?"

"Christ I don't know." he mumbled, laying down on the bed, "Things just happened so fast and now it's like – I have to sort it all out and try and find a way to make this work, and get my old job back."

"Well you know the department will be glad to have you back. Preacher's retiring soon and Joey is going to move on for his doctorate after next semester. We're so understaffed that I'm almost half a semester behind on grading papers, you can come on as my TA for a while then move up to assistant professor if you feel like it."

"You think so? Sounds like you all are pretty desperate."

"Well..." Jo mumbled, typing quietly on the laptop, "With this data that means a lot more grant money is going to start rolling in, and a lot more interest in the science. In a few more semesters we might not have to worry."

"That'd be nice."

"Mmmhm."

Jo was quiet for a while longer before speaking again. "How's Melissa? Did she get back safe?"

"Yeah she's at the motel we stopped at for the night. I know she'll be glad to get back home."

Jo quietly continued to type, pulling her glasses on and squinting at several lists that came up. The phone rang, causing both of them to jump slightly. Bill reached over, picking up the receiver.

"Yeah? Oh – when? Okay..." Bill nodded several more times, listening, until hanging up. He looked over at Jo, starting to write on a fresh piece of paper. "Alright, they flew Jonas in about 2 hours ago, said he's going to be in surgery until tomorrow. I can get in to see him in a few days."

"Before you know it, it'll be like old times." Jo chuckled, looking up from her work, "You know he won't be happy to see you."

"Is he ever happy, is the real question."

"Probably was when he was stealing our work..." Jo mumbled.

* * *

Author's note : I'm kind of in a state of disbelief that I'm actually writing a fanfiction for a 90s disaster flick and yet here I am. Looking at my life and my choices and I'm just going to roll with it.


End file.
